1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the variety of information is increasing, more different printed articles are produced in smaller lots. This increases the cost of printing plate making for each printed article and results in comparatively high cost in known printing methods such as offset printing. In addition, immediacy of information has increasingly become important. A printing method requiring a long lead time for preparation for printing including printing plate making cannot respond to the trend of reducing delivery period of time even if the number of prints are small. An ink jet printing method is expected to be a suitable technique for responding to such market demands. More specifically, since the ink jet printing method does not use a printing plate, the cost of plate making does not increase even for a small lot. Also, the ink jet printing method enables desired printed articles to be immediately produced without requiring lead time, thus being considered to be suitable for printing a variety of different articles in small lots.
Unfortunately, the ink jet printing method can produce images with degraded quality in terms of specific properties.
One of the phenomena that cause such image quality degradation is bleeding that occurs when ink is directly applied onto a recording medium having a highly smooth surface. Such a recording medium cannot sufficiently absorb the ink and allows the ink to remain on the surface of the recording medium and mix with adjacently applied droplets. Bleeding thus occurs.
Another one of the phenomena is beading that is a phenomenon in which previously applied droplets are attracted to subsequently applied droplets.
A third one of the phenomena is curling and cockling caused by excessive absorption of the liquid component from the ink into the recording medium.
In order to reduce image quality degradation resulting from these phenomena, an image recording method using a transfer technique (hereinafter referred to as transfer image recording method) has been devised. The transfer image recording method includes the steps of applying a reaction liquid, forming an intermediate image, and transferring the intermediate image. In the step of applying a reaction liquid, a reaction liquid is applied onto an intermediate transfer member. The reaction liquid will come into contact with the coloring material in an ink, thereby forming a viscous intermediate image. In the subsequent step of forming an intermediate image, an intermediate image is formed by applying an ink containing a coloring material onto the intermediate transfer member to which the reaction liquid has been applied. In the step of transferring, the intermediate image is transferred to a recording medium by pressing the intermediate transfer member having the intermediate image on the recording medium.
In the transfer image recording method, in some cases, part of intermediate image cannot be transferred from the intermediate transfer member to the recording medium, remaining on the intermediate transfer member, and results in a defect in the final image. Accordingly, there have been devised transfer image recording methods in which the performance of transfer has been improved.
Japanese Patent No. 3177985 discloses a method using an ink containing a thermoplastic resin. In the method, the intermediate image is heated to a temperature more than or equal to the softening temperature or melting temperature of the thermoplastic resin, and then the intermediate image is transferred to the recording medium.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-45851 discloses a method in which a treatment liquid containing particles is applied onto the intermediate transfer member.